The bowler that no one (and everyone) talks about
The best cricket stories of the week, 14th to 20th September 2024
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The bowler that no one (and everyone) talks about
Arrangements of White on Green’s Jon Hotten has a lovely piece on both WG Grace’s well-known impact on cricket, and his rarely acknowledged impact as an elite bowler.
“Grace’s fame is not the empty contemporary kind. He conceived the modern game: he imagined and then played it, and then, by the force of what he did and who he was, dragged it along with him into its new golden age. No-one else will be as important to cricket. No-one else can be. He scored the first triple century, England’s first Test match century, was the first man to score 100 first-class hundreds [and] he is still the fifth-highest first-class run scorer of all–time.”
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How to throw away your career
Open Magazine’s Aditya Iyer catches up with TP Sudhindra, whose life ban from cricket for corruption was overturned recently.
“In January [2012], he finished as the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy season, with 40 dismissals for his side, Madhya Pradesh…[which got] him an IPL contract that he had so yearned for by February, signing up with the Deccan Chargers for a fee of ₹30 lakh. In March, he got engaged to his future wife. And by early April, he had taken his first IPL wicket, that of CSK’s Faf du Plessis.
Then came mid-May, the Ides of May, when a sting operation run by an Indian news channel had Sudhindra agreeing to bowl a no-ball for money, haggling for the right price to spot-fix in an inter-district T20 game. The fee he wants in the footage is ₹50,000, but is told he would receive ₹20,000. Sudhindra agrees.”
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3
Overspin can overwhelm
ESPNcricinfo’s Himanish Ganjoo brings his expertise as one of the foremost cricket analysts in the world to the table with an analysis of how overspin can help spinners potentially claw back an advantage in T20 cricket.
“Data shows that while deliveries with overspin yield similar or slightly lower economy rates than those without, they also yield a better bowling strike rate. This is true for both slow and fast spin, for both finger- and wristspinners, across the four-to-seven-metre "good" length for spin. The almost imperceptible change in length, the small amount of extra bounce, and the possibility of additional deviation, all combine to make dipping balls tougher to attack.”
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The best of the rest
ESPNcricinfo’s Alagappan Muthu praises India’s saviour of the week; “In all conditions, Ashwin + Chepauk = magic”
ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Fidel Fernando writes about the rise of Sri Lanka’s newest batting star; “Yes, you're still inside the Kamindu Mendis fever dream”
ESPNcricinfo’s Valkerie Baynes reports on England Women’s haphazardly successful World Cup preparation; “Chaos abounds and England wouldn't have it any other way”
The Guardian’s Rory Carroll writes about how cricket beat its colonialist brand image in Ireland; “‘Success breeds success’: why Ireland’s cricket lovers are bullish about the future”
Cricket Et Al’s Gideon Haigh has some fun and comes up with his favourite Aussie XI based on the funniest names he could remember; “What's in a name?”
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The best videos and podcasts
Jarrod Kimber and co. dissect Babar Azam’s batting struggles by looking at his big toe. There are hints that the information has gotten to Azam as his batting stance looked a little different over the weekend!
Sky Sports Cricket’s Nathan Lyon has his second masterclass on elite cricket, this time focussed on the positives of the pressure of success.
The PCCI Podcast host Gideon Haigh to remember Shane Warne on what would’ve been his 55th birthday last week. [Apple Podcasts]